


Not So Bad

by orphan_account



Category: Lobotomy Corporation (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, give this boy some rest, he is tired(TM), my brain saw this dude and immediately said projection
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:54:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24816439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Writing a report is hard. So is trying to better yourself, but it's easier to complain when your problems are external.
Relationships: Netzach/Yesod (Lobotomy Corporation)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 25





	1. Late-Night Writing

Netzach is tired. So tired, in fact, that he only realizes now that he has been face-planting into his desk for the past hour or so.

He glanced at the clock, seeing that it's way past the time he'd usually go to bed; the neon numbers seemingly mocking him as he continues to stare. It's going to be morning soon, and he wants nothing more than to sleep. Or drink. Or both, knowing him.

Staring at the computer in front of him, he realizes that he's only about halfway done with his report. He knows that he can't go to sleep until it's finished, otherwise he won't turn it in on time-and he didn't need another lecture about his carelessness.

Besides, he needed to do this.

"It's like Hod said, progress is progress. But why does it have to be so fucking hard?"

As pathetic as he feels for admitting it to himself, he just wants someone to be *proud* of him. It's not like the expectations for him are all that high anymore, but the least he could do is try. 

After all, he had nothing to lose, right? Maybe this would be good for him.

Maybe Malkuth would feel as though her insincere encouragements actually helped. Maybe Hod would feel proud of herself for actually helping someone. Maybe Yesod wouldn't degrade him for once. Maybe.

But he couldn't get caught up in that. False promises only lead to disappointment, as he'd learned firsthand.

His head begins to throb as his eyes try to focus on the all-too-bright screen in front of him. He probably shouldn't be doing this in the dark. 

Standing up from his desk, he begins to stumble towards the light switch as his pain and exhaustion become increasingly noticeable.

His hand lingers on the switch. He realizes that if he turns the light on then people outside of his department will be able to see its fluorescent glare through the door's window. 

If anyone were to walk by, they'd see that he's awake. He peers outside of the window, and with the rest of his fellow sephirahs being asleep (most likely, he's not sure how early Malkuth wakes up, considering how energetic she is), he turns the light on. 

Besides, he doubts that they'd care that he was still awake.

Taking a swig of the water bottle on his desk, he sits down. Choosing to ignore his headache, he begins to type the rest of the report.


	2. Sleeping In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hod makes a tiny discovery.

After typing for the next few hours, he realized that the report was finally finished. 

Straining his eyes, he glanced over at the clock. It's 6:30, realizing with a soft groan that he only has about half an hour to sleep.

He quickly presses print, watching page after page slowly emerge from the printer.

Once it finishes, he promptly stapled the papers together before considering whether or not he should go back to his residential quarters.

A swift glance at the clock (now reading 6:35) convinces him to just sleep at his desk.

With that thought, he rested his head in his arms as he laid against the desk, immediately falling asleep.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hod tiptoed into Netzach's office, unsurprised that he was already asleep.

She stepped closer, preparing to wake him up before noticing how disheveled he looked. His jacket and tie had been discarded on a nearby table, and his hair looked like a mess. The usual smell and presence of beer was also missing, which she found odd.

She also noticed that he wasn't waking up when she began to lightly shake his shoulder. If he kept this up, he wouldn't be able to start his work on time.

That is, if he ever did any work in the first place.

She was about to leave (believing Malkuth might have better chances at waking him) when she noticed the neat stack of papers on the corner of his desk.

Is that a report? The report that was due today? He managed to finish it???

She looked over at his computer, which he had neglected to shut off.

"The last bit of editing happened half an hour ago..."

Looking back at the sleeping sephirah, she realized that he must've been up all night trying to finish it. Poor thing.

He needed rest, that much was obvious, but how was she going to explain this to Malkuth and Yesod? It's not likely that they would let him skip work again, and she couldn't manage both of their departments since they were separated.

She sat down in a nearby chair, idly looking through his report while trying to think of a solution. It was surprisingly well-written, most likely because he had chosen to write it while sober (another choice of his that she didn't quite understand).

Figuring that she wouldn't get much done while sitting, she left a tiny note on his desk which said that she was taking his report to Malkuth, and that she was happy that he'd finished it on time.

She could always scold him about his sleep schedule later.


	3. A Conversation with Malkuth

Hod rushed Netzach's report to Malkuth's department, trying to have enough time to discuss his predicament without being late for work herself.

Malkuth was sitting calmly at her desk as she barged in, hair disheveled and appearing frantic. She all but threw the report at her face as she hurriedly tried to explain everything.

"So, I found Netzach in his office, he was asleep. I tried to wake him up but I couldn't. That's when I found the report on his desk, and when I saw his computer, he'd been working on it all night! He's not late for once! Anyways...I don't know what to do. He's not waking up, and I can't exactly run his department and mine at the same time."

"...So you're saying you want me to let him sleep in?"

"Yes. Maybe? I don't know. This is the first time he actually finished his work before it was due, and I figured that there has to be a reason why he'd do that."

"You mean there's a reason other than him realizing how lazy he's been?"

"We all have our issues, Malkuth. It's difficult for him to deal with his. He didn't even drink anything, and I couldn't find enkephalin anywhere! Making him feel bad will just make him go back to how he used to be. Besides, things have only been getting more hectic in our layer with those new abnormalities being brought in...we need his help, and I think him finishing this report could be the start of a good thing."

She continued to negotiate on his behalf, before being interrupted by Yesod-who looked less than pleased.

"Where have you been? It is extremely unprofessional for you to leave your department like that without telling anyone. You don't expect your department to run without a sephirah, do you? We already have to deal with that in Netzach's department! We can't have half of Asiyah skipping out on their work! Of all times that you could've chosen to disappear like this, you thought that now would've been a good time? We hardly have any information on the new abnormalities. A breach could happen at any time, and you can't expect your department to handle that without you!"

Hod fought the urge to cringe, hating to be scolded so harshly. She couldn't help but think about how intense Yesod could be when stressed (which was always).

She glanced over at Malkuth, realizing with a sigh that there was no way that she could get either of their support for him.

"I just came here to drop off Netzach's report. He's asleep. I can't wake him up. I'll head back to my department..."

Heading towards the door, she took one last look at the other sephirahs, her discontent evident on her face.

"Yesod...please check up on him, would you? As I said, I couldn't wake him up, and I tried everything...Maybe you would have better luck."

He was somewhat surprised that he actually finished his work for once, but sleeping on the job? That was unacceptable. Even if he got drunk or high or whatever else he did in his office, he was still conscious in case of an emergency. He couldn't believe he had to deal with this. What was he, his mother?

"Fine. Just go back to your department, and hurry. I don't want to deal with anything else today, so please, if you need something, just page us. We have pagers for a reason. You don't need to leave your department every time something happens."

Hod gave a small wave to the two other sephirahs before leaving, hurrying back to her department.

"I hope he isn't too harsh towards him..."


	4. A Rude Awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yesod wakes him up, feeling odd about the whole ordeal.

After bidding Malkuth a quick goodbye, Yesod quickly made his way to Netzach's department, grumbling to himself as he walked.

"Today is already terrible and it's not even halfway over."

At least the security department wasn't far away from his.

He reached Netzach's office, taking a few cautious steps before focusing his attention on the sephirah who was dead asleep in front of him.

"Netzach."

No response.

He stepped closer, bending down so that he was right next to him.

"Netzach."

Still no response. Great. He should've just let Hod deal with this. There was no way he couldn't be hearing him right now...right?

He better not be faking just so that he could get out of work. The possibility was unlikely, considering what Hod had told him, but Netzach had gotten her to cover for him before.

This was ridiculous. He couldn't keep arguing with himself as to why he was asleep. He needed to have him wake up and get back to work so he could finally head back to his department.

He moved over to the front of Netzach's desk, before slamming his hands down with a moderate amount of force.

"Netzach!"

In retrospect, as he watched him yell and fall out of his chair, Yesod realized that he probably should've woken him up differently.

He sighed, walking over to where Netzach had fallen and holding his hand out.

"Come on."

A shaky hand intertwined with his as he hoisted the other sephirah up.

Finally able to look him in the face, Yesod realized how terrible he looked. 

The dazed look on his face, bags under his eyes and the rest of his disheveled appearance made it clear that he was not feeling well.

He also...wasn't drunk?

Not bad, but still weird.

His thoughts were interrupted by Netzach clearing his throat.

"Sorry. Fell asleep. You can go back to your department now."

That was...unusually direct of him. He wondered if the reason why he was like this was because he was actually sober for once, and it had been so long since he'd spent time with him when he wasn't drunk that he wasn't used to his unexplainable behavior. Either that or Nothing There had already breached and had chosen to mimic him. Hopefully it was the former.

Unsure of what to say, he began to change the topic of the conversation to the report.

"Hod brought your report in for you..."

The expectant silence was almost unbearable. At first he had thought that Hod was exaggerating but he had seriously exhausted himself trying to get it done on time. As much as he wanted to scold him for sleeping on the job he figured that it wouldn't be a good idea, especially given the state he was currently in. He could afford to be a little bit more lenient, just this once.

"Malkuth and I both appreciate the effort on your part. We'll need you to stay awake, though. I know that you're aware of the new abnormalities in our departments, and we cannot let any negligence cause the deaths of employees that would otherwise have been unavoidable."

He noticed Netzach stiffen ever so slightly. Great. 

He tried his best to ignore the feelings of pity that ran through him at the sight, which was proving to be more difficult than expected.

Letting his voice take on a softer tone as to not upset him further, he continued.

"This is a stressful time for everyone. I just need you to be awake and available for surveillance. If something happens, quick action can prevent the situation from spiralling into something worse. However, if your department is able to pick up enough new information on the abnormalities to be mostly self-sufficient, then you can relax a little..."

He trailed off, trying to make sense of Netzach's unreadable expression.

As stubborn as he could be about rules and the corporation's regulations, Yesod figured that there wouldn't be any serious repercussions from giving him a break today. After all, Netzach looked nearly dead from exhaustion, which worried him in a way he couldn't quite describe. Why was seeing him like this making him feel so upset? It didn't feel like regular pity or concern, but that was a problem that he could think about later.

"I'll page Chesed and have him bring you some coffee. Employees are starting to begin their assigned work, so I need to return to my department. Please meet me in my office sometime in the afternoon so that we can discuss getting you some proper rest. In the meantime, page me if you need anything. Good luck today."

He did his best to give him a small smile, which Netzach awkwardly returned.

As he left the office, he heard a soft "See you later" just as the door was closing behind him.

He paged Chesed about the coffee before arriving at his office, satisfied at being adequately prepared for whatever mayhem the day would bring.

Sitting down at his organized desk, he turned on the computer to begin his work for the day.

**Author's Note:**

> What a great time to get into a game, four years after it originally comes out with the sequel released not too long ago. Hooray.


End file.
